Cask is king for Thwaites
The Thwaites brand has been an ever-present in Blackburn town centre for the past 202 years. But with the industry going through one its toughest times and more than 50 pubs closing every week in the UK, what does the future hold for the brewing giant? Ben Briggs spoke exclusively to Thwaites’ commercial director Sue Allen and found her in positive mood about the industry.
These are trying times for the licensed pub trade.
A three-pronged onslaught of the smoking ban, cheap supermarket beer and the credit crunch have led to scores of pubs closing around the county as this great British institution seeks to find its place in the modern world.
And Thwaites has not been immune to these problems.
Its year end results to March 31, 2009, revealed a 1.8 per cent drop in turnover to £158.5million and a pre-tax profit of £9m, down 10 per cent on 2008.
There is, however, light amidst the industry gloom for Thwaites in the form of cask ale sales which have risen 10 per cent over the last year and have led the company to focus more than ever on brewing them.
Sue Allen, the company’s commercial director, said: “Yes, we are in recession but we are about brewing and what we are very good at is brewing cask ale.
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“There’s a danger with our huge capacity at the brewery that you sometimes fill your capacity by doing contract brewing for other firms, were as actually our strength is selling it through our own pubs. Therefore, we have come more away from contract brewing.”
The company still does a substantial amount of contract brewing, but a renewed focus on the cask ale sector has been a major part of the new regime under managing director Peter Morris, who joined the company last May.
Such is the popularity of Thwaites cask ales such as Original, Lancaster Bomber, Double Century and Wainwright, that there are plans to bring in a new Daniel Thwaites ‘Signature’ cask collection.
“Our plan is to keep doing different beers every month or two so we can find the next Wainwright,” Sue explained.
“Wainwright is the real success story of the moment in both cask and bottle. It was brought in as a seasonal ale about four-years-ago and it flew so fast, maybe linked to resurgence of interest in Alfred Wainwright’s books, the TV series and the coast to coast walk he pioneered. This is now fast growing to Bomber volumes.”
It may be a happy coincidence that Thwaites was able to cash in on the back of the Wainwright phenomenon, especially as the hand written Lake District guides of this son of Blackburn are currently commanding huge interest throughout the UK, but is there going to be a viable pub base left through which to sell these products?
Sue is adamant there will be but realistic that pubs, especially Thwaites’ 400 establishments, must change to meet shifting consumer demand.
“Wasn’t it Charles Darwin who said ‘It’s not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most receptive to change,’” she said.
“I think that’s key in a lot of business at the minute. Yes, you may have been doing things one way but if the world changes around you then you have to keep pace and change yourself and that applies to pubs as well.
“In the 1980s and 1990s it was a lot easier to make a go of pubs but those days are gone and unless you have good products and your service is spot on you won’t make a go of it. The consumer is more demanding nowadays and they vote with their feet.”
And it is this notion of change that has maybe taken too long to sink in for many people working in the brewing and pub trade.
Towns like Blackburn, Burnley and Preston grew on the back of heavy industry and terraced communities which were built with pubs at their heart.
By 1862 there were 462 ale houses in Blackburn alone, that’s one pub or beer shop for every 23 households.
That world, however, is gone and many of the traditional pubs that prospered for so long find themselves without the trade that once sustained them.
Thwaites itself has recently put some of its pubs up for sale, but Sue claims this is part of a yearly “estate review” and that the company’s good pubs will continue to prosper.
She added: “Good pubs are good pubs because the people running them are always thinking and trying new things and want to take a measured risk.
“The recession will ultimately lead to a shaking out process and some pubs being closed, but we will continue to invest behind good people. I do think because of our aim to develop more cask ales we need to take our pub estate with us so therefore a healthy review will always happen.”
